Measurements of Multicomponent Diffusion Coefficients for Lysozyme Chloride in Water and Aqueous Na$_2$SO$_4$

Abstract

This paper presents a diffusion experimental study for ternary lysozyme-Na$_2$SO$_4$-water system, from moderate precipitant concentrations into the supersaturated region and provides a complete set of four diffusion coefficients. These data are important in order to provide accurate models of protein diffusion with applications in growth of protein crystals for X-ray diffraction studies. All three-component mutual-diffusion experiments reported here were performed by Rayleigh interferometry at pH$=4.5$, T$=25^o$ C and at a mean lysozyme concentration (average of top and bottom solution concentrations) of 0.6 mM (8.6 mg/mL). Four experiments, with different combinations of protein and Na$_2$SO$_4$ concentration differences, were performed at each of five mean Na$_2$SO$_4$ concentrations (0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 0.65 and 0.8 M), for a total of 20 experiments. In addition, we have measured dynamic light-scattering diffusion coefficients of the ternary system lysozyme chloride-Na$_2$SO$_4$-water.